Tag: Mardi Gras

BLOG: Mardi Gras Continued…

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Thursday. I am… definitely hungover from yesterday. And by that I really mean the last few days. I was out daydrinking three days in a row. Not good, but also… it is Mardi Gras! And Chinese New Year! Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Yesterday was quite interesting. I got on the motorbike and ventured outside of my little bubble to a small Thai cafe to meet up with two of my friends mates. Just a couple of degenerate Bang lads, which I am now apparently one of. One is English, one is Irish. Both of them have lived here forever. One of them is more tolerable than the other. I’ll let you guess which one I prefer.

I sat with them all afternoon while they worked. I figured that if I can’t find a job, I should at least be hanging out with the people who have all the money. The things I witnessed… oh vey. This is exactly what people mean when they talk about white male privilege.

I didn’t realize they were working AND drinking, so I didn’t bring any of my work stuff with me. Instead I drew out my March calendar for my bullet journal, which I had to endure annoying comments about from the English guy. He wanted to know why I waste time making a schedule for myself if I have nothing to do. Haha, so funny. I pointed to a random day a couple weeks ago and said, “Look, I was very busy on this day. I went to the spa and I got my nails done!” My Irish friend, aka the Moose, found this amusing. My English friend did not.

He then proceeded to give me what I refer to as “The Caveman Lecture.” This is the speech men give where they mansplain the “natural way of men and women” according to how we behaved back in ye olde days when we all lived in caves.

I personally hate this speech. I find it obnoxious. Just because you personally have not evolved past your caveman mentality does not mean everyone else agrees with you. We don’t live in caves anymore, bro. We live in the 21st Century. Women have choices. We make them. Get the fuck over it already!

So he gave the big speech about how men are providers and women shouldn’t work and blah blah blah and then he stuck me with the tab. This is my biggest pet peeve! This is it, bro! This is your chance to provide! Show us the meats!

Show us the meats he did not. I should have expected as much given the fact that all of his afternoon work meetings were focused on the fact that a vendor hired by the multinational corporation he works for has not yet been paid after several months of delays.

As I said… white male privilege on full display right here in Bangkok, Thailand.

After all of that was over, I took a bike home. I made a trip to the pot shop to take advantage of their CNY special and then came back. I fell asleep really early because I was drinking all afternoon. I had a dream where a dinosaur had escaped from Jurassic Park and was running around terrorizing Bangkok. Interesting. It must have been inspired by the Caveman Speech…

Much to do today. I need to make plans to leave again. They’ve just changed the tourism visa laws again in Thailand. I definitely have to go now. It feels like Bangkok is a place I can come back to. I feel like I can go on whatever journey I decide now and come back here to my little Krewe and my little neighborhood and feel right at home. That’s quite nice to have…

What am I doing with my life? I have no idea!

Fun fun!

BLOG: Hail Zulu!

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Trash Wednesday. The party is over. Another year has come and gone. I could not have guessed this time last year that I would be spending Mardi Gras sitting at a farang dive bar in Bangkok, but here we are.

It was not so bad. I started with a grilled cheese and then drank very, very slowly. For awhile I got stuck talking to this weird American guy. Another crazy Californian. They truly are next level. He was starting to annoy me when my friend The Moose texted me and invited me to come to another pub. I was going to get up and leave when he and his other friend came in. I know the other friend but I don’t have a name for him. I was at his house with some friends a few weeks ago.

So they came in and rescued me from the crazy Californian guy, who continued hovering around and inserting himself into our conversation at random times. I, myself, was still trying to pretend that I’m not still secretly stewing over my Stew.

Had a couple of rounds of drinks, then the two of them exited. A different American friend from New York approached me. He asked me what happened on Saturday night with Uncle Jason. I said I had no memory of that. I was really drunk and watching rugby. He said “words were exchanged.” I was like, “Were those words, ‘fuck off, I’m watching rugby?’” Lol.

Shortly thereafter, Uncle Jason appeared, once again looking at me in bewilderment. I love knowing how much this guy hates me and trolling him this way. It’s hilarious to me. Sometimes when people mess with you, you just gotta mess with people right back.

Finally, Old Man Smiley appeared and took me aside. He said, “Betsey, listen to me. I’ve been trying to tell you in my own way. I’ve lived here a long time. There are people here who are very dangerous. You don’t want to be messing with them. Do you understand me?”

Yes, I finally understand you. I did not understand you before. Now I understand you. I understand exactly what you are getting at now. I’m learning the rules now. I didn’t know them before.

I went home after that. Found a New Orleans-style restaurant and ordered a spread. It was actually pretty good. The Jambalaya is more like a Thai fried rice style but the flavoring is on-point. Creole spice game strong. These people know NOLA.

Later, as I stood by the window overlooking the city, eating my rice with chop sticks, I wondered about my life again. I have no idea what I’m doing. Dead-end job. Dead-end career. Dead-end city. Dead-end book. Dead-end relationship. Dead-end everything.

What am I doing with my life?

I have no idea!!!

BLOG: Red Envelope Special

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Tuesday. Lunar New Year. Mardi Gras! Happy holidays!

I am wearing a special outfit I got from India today. It is red and white gold. Very beautiful. Perfect for the New Year.

I did not think the coffee shop would be open today, but it is. I admit I was actually on my way to the American Bar for some good old fashioned Bangkok degenerate daydrinking, but I decided to stop here for my daily iced mocha and write first. We must catch up on yesterday’s events before we go out and collect more stories.

Yesterday was… interesting. I decided to go to the pot shop and day drink, which was a mistake because my friend called me around 7pm and asked me to meet him at the American Bar. I know better than to mix daytime and nighttime drinking in Thailand, but I ignored my better instincts and did it anyway. It ended with me getting sick and running home and forgetting to pay my tab, which is why I was on my way to said bar to fix the situation.

Anyway, before all of that happened, I went to meet my friend, who is Irish. I have mentioned him on here before. I call him The Moose because he is obsessed with his Canadian Girl who left him long ago. He always likes to talk about how much land he has back home in Ireland. I learned recently that this means he is flirting with me. This is how Irish men flirt, apparently. They constantly talk about how much land they have.

He is also friends with the Hot Beef Stew. I tried to ignore this fact so I could be at peace and just let the whole situation go, but he brought it up! I had to sit there and sip my drink to hide my excitement when he mentioned his name.

The Moose said, “Well, you know we were here a couple weeks back. He was asking on about you.”

Really? He was asking on about me? I must sit perfectly still and pretend I have not secretly been dying to hear this exact sentence for the last three months. Keep it together, Betsey. Just play it cool.

“Yeah, he wanted to know what kind of person I thought you were. I said I thought you were really cool. You’re just the kind of person people have to get to know first.”

“Oh, thank you. I thought you were going to say that I was crazy.”

“You’re not crazy, you’re just Irish. Very Irish. You don’t even know how Irish you are. I feel sorry for you because you don’t know anything about it at all. You don’t know your own people. You’ve never been to your homeland. You don’t know who you are at all. That’s very sad to me.”

“Right, yeah, I know all that, but what did he say about me?”

“He agreed with me.”

“Yes, well, he would, wouldn’t he? He got to know me quite well that evening. Got to hear the whole story and see the whole spectrum of emotion that comes with it. And then some. Ha ha.”

“We didn’t like what you were saying about us Irish guys though.”

“Oh, don’t be too upset about that. It’s not just Irish guys. Trust me. I’ve dated men from all over the world and all of them are the same. I think it’s just a problem with men in general.”

“I believe you.”

“Anyway, I’m not dating right now. I am looking for purpose, meaning, and fulfillment outside of a relationship. I am focusing on myself instead.”

And not-so-secretly obsessing over your friend, of course. Obviously.

“Are you going to go back to Hong Kong?”

“Well, I have to because I put my luggage into storage there, but I don’t think I will stay. It’s a money issue. I have no job or income or apartment. I have no purpose there. I have no purpose anywhere. I think I will just go bum around the beach for a month and then go take another Yoga Teacher Training course in India.”

“That makes sense. You hated Hong Kong. You wrote to me every day.”

“I didn’t hate it, I was just very lonely there. I wrote to a lot of people every day. I keep regular correspondence with quite a few of my friends. It’s not limited just to you. Don’t feel like you’re special in any way.”

“I don’t. We all know how much you like your conquests.”

“I don’t go out conquesting anymore. Your friend took all the fun out of it for me.”

Because he lied about being married, then shamed me for acting like a ‘slut,’ as if I was the one who was doing something wrong by being there.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“No you’re not.”

“You’re right. I’m not.”

The conversation turned away from this subject and returned to all things Irish. The Hot Beef Stew did not come up again, even though I had a million questions and was dying to ask them all. I told myself I would not feed my own obsessive compulsion and refrained from saying anything at all. I just let my friend talk about his huge tracts of land back in Ireland and speculate how many millions they might be worth. Meanwhile, I stared off into space at the wall behind him, continuing to stew over the Stew.

At some point he had to leave. That was when I started feeling really sick and had to run home. Now I have to go in today and make sure my tab is paid. Hate it when that happens.

Still have no idea what I am doing with my life beyond that. It’s okay! I’ll figure it out! Somehow?

The only thing I’ve figured out is that I want a grilled cheese sandwich. Good thing I have to go pay my tab…

That is all for today. We shall see what else develops as the week continues on…